Chapter 158 Lin Chen

Qi Si narrowed his eyes.

After the “Carnivore” instance ended, seeing the “No Survivors” achievement, he knew Lin Chen might not be dead.

But he truly didn’t expect this guy to live until now, surviving the third instance with a death rate as high as 80% and becoming a formal player.

A guy who strictly adhered to stupid kindness, a university student who was as clear and stupid as could be—how on earth did he survive in instances fraught with danger?

Was it good luck, or was his performance in Rose Manor all an illusion, deceiving everyone?

Qi Si stared intently at the girl’s livestream room. Unfortunately, since she got the answer, she hadn’t moved her gaze again, only obediently lowering her head and meticulously transcribing the text from the note onto the exam paper.

This girl wrote exceptionally earnestly and in a small, neat hand; what could have been copied in a moment seemed like it would take until the end of the exam.

After waiting five minutes, Qi Si’s patience wore thin. He decisively exited the girl’s livestream and searched for the name “Lin Chen” in the search bar without much hope.

Just a second before the results loaded, a line of text popped up on the system interface:

【You can stay in the Game Space for 1 hour at a time; more time can be exchanged for points】

【Spend 10 points to exchange for 1 hour of stay time?】

Qi Si: “…”

After two seconds of silence, he topped up 10 points for the stay time.

The text blocking his view quietly faded, revealing the search results.

A string of accounts named “Lin Chen” were neatly arranged on the bronze desktop, with avatars being each person’s front-facing headshot.

Qi Si scanned the area, found the “Lin Chen” he knew, and clicked in… “No. 33 Middle School” was a very old instance, first appearing fourteen years ago, opened over a hundred times, leaving behind a dozen clear summaries and guides.

Logically, with a guide in hand, clearing such a instance would be very easy; but unfortunately, the Eerie Game always found a way to find players who hadn’t seen the guide and randomly throw them in.

A total of thirty-nine players entered this instance with Lin Chen, which, including him, happened to be the size of one class.

Forty people, none of whom had seen the guide for “No. 33 Middle School” without exception; some hadn’t even heard of it.

The background story of the instance was simple: a preparatory high school with heavy academic pressure, various absurdly strict school rules, students dying unexpectedly every year while news was suppressed… This could be called the most typical horror story trope. However, once the players entered the school, they found that in the entire school, besides the forty of them, everyone else was a ghost… everyone was a ghost… Lin Chen was afraid of ghosts. Even if he had stumbled through and cleared the third instance to become a formal player, he was still scared to death.

Since the first day of entering the instance, his face had been pale and full of fear; by now, it was already the third day. Watching the hideous ghost teachers and ghost classmates coming and going, he had progressed from his initial jumpiness to numbness.

He finished the exam paper with vacant eyes, turned his head to look at the gloomy sky outside the window, and subconsciously touched the blade in his pocket.

【Name: Not-So-Ordinary Blade】

【Type: Item】

【Effect: Kills humans and ghosts; exceptionally effective at slicing the back of the neck】

【Remarks: A blade stained with the blood of an Evil God. Although it has no enchantment effect, it’s not that ordinary, is it?】

This was the knife Qi Si left him in the “Rose Manor” instance. To this day, it still served as his personal weapon, playing a significant role.

Lin Chen still remembered that day Qi Si handed him the blade and told him to kill Chang Xu at two in the afternoon. Then, inexplicably, the instance was cleared.

Afterward, he pondered and reviewed it for a long time, always feeling like he had lost a segment of memory, yet completely unable to trace any clues.

He took the blade and left the instance in a daze, feeling at a loss when he saw the prompt refreshed by the blade.

Items related to the Evil God were of great importance and extraordinary value. He hadn’t had time to return it to its original owner; what would Qi Si do if he needed it in a instance later?

Lin Chen returned to reality full of worry. While still lying on the hospital bed, he hurriedly picked up his phone and searched for information on Qi Si.

He did find several reports, but without exception, there was no specific information like phone numbers or addresses, and the news agency insisted they couldn’t contact the person… After becoming a formal player, he went to the Ruins of the Sunset to inquire, but still came up empty-handed. None of the names on the rookie rank were familiar to him.

That young man named “Qi Si” was like a vivid purple hallucination, so bright that it quickly dried, faded, and drifted away after waking up, leaving no trace.

From entering the game until now, the time wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either.

Lin Chen couldn’t find Qi Si for the time being, so he could only keep the blade with him. If he were lucky enough to meet him again in a instance, he could return it in person.

Along the way, he intentionally learned from Qi Si, helping other players with small favors; when encountering danger or feeling fear, he often held the blade, recalling the young man’s calm conduct and secretly cheering himself up.

—In this way, he stumbled through one instance after another.

“You are a good student, doing your paper so quickly and well…” A sinister voice sounded from behind Lin Chen. The long-haired female ghost in charge of proctoring had floated to his desk at some point, picking up his exam paper with sharp fingers to look.

Lin Chen’s blood almost froze; for a moment, even his breath was stuck in his throat.

He turned his head stiffly, his nose tip almost touching the female ghost’s face.

The female ghost broke into a crimson smile, her voice grim: “Come to my office after the exam.”

She threw the paper back on the desk and turned to leave, no longer paying attention to Lin Chen, who felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Watching the female ghost’s back disappear around the corner, all the players breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Lin Chen with sympathy or relief.

One of the student rules was: 【The office is dangerous; many students who go in never come out.】

Since entering the instance, one person had died every day. Today’s victim was already confirmed to be Lin Chen, which meant the others were safe.

Lin Chen naturally thought of this too, and his pale face became even paler. He sat blankly in his seat like his soul had been sucked out, staring at the ceiling.

A piercing bell rang without warning, marking the end of the exam. Two class representatives with bruised, purple faces stood up stiffly and went from seat to seat to collect the exam papers.

They left the classroom carrying the papers, but Lin Chen still sat there, with no intention of moving.

The players finally couldn’t help themselves and crowded around to urge him:

“Lin Chen, hurry to the office. Go early, maybe you can still find a way to survive…”

“Yeah, go quickly; if you’re late and anger the female ghost, you’ll definitely die!”

“Don’t dawdle! If that female ghost gets impatient and comes back, whose fault will it be?”

Lin Chen knew he couldn’t delay any longer. The players most likely wouldn’t mind tying him up and taking him to the office.

Being able to live until today was mostly due to luck. Now, his good luck had probably come to an end.

Lin Chen thought bitterly as he stood up unsteadily and walked toward A-Ling, the girl he had passed the answers to earlier.

A-Ling was hidden deep in the crowd; seeing him approach, she tried to dodge backward.

Lin Chen acted as if he hadn’t seen it, took a few quick steps, and handed over the blade in his hand: “A-Ling, this is the item the big shot I told you about lent me. If you have the chance to meet him in the future, can you help me return it to him?”

A-Ling took the blade and nodded repeatedly.

Lin Chen gave her a bitter smile but no longer hesitated, turning to walk out of the classroom… 【Stay time has been exhausted; more time can be exchanged for points】

【Spend 100 points to exchange for 1 hour of stay time?】

The prompt popped up once more, freezing the livestream at a critical moment.

Qi Si finally understood what the “consumption trap” mentioned on the forum meant.

The prices in this Eerie Game actually increased tenfold… Did they have to be such profiteers?

As if knowing Qi Si’s thoughts, a new line of prompt text refreshed:

【Spend 10 points to exchange for 3 minutes of stay time?】

Qi Si: “…”

He threw 10 points in with an unfriendly expression, and the livestream continued.

With a pale face and moving his limbs in an uncoordinated way, Lin Chen strode toward the office in a posture of a heroic martyr going to his execution.

On the way, ghost students with various manners of death walked by from time to time, turning their heads to look at Lin Chen as they passed. A few even trembled their lips, seemingly discussing something.

Lin Chen marched forward without looking sideways, not intending to struggle at all before his death.

Suddenly, a female ghost in a student miniskirt seemed to lose her footing and bumped into Lin Chen. From Qi Si’s perspective, he could see the female ghost stuffing a note into his pocket.

Lin Chen was startled and hurriedly pushed the female ghost away, staring fixedly at her face, which was streaming with bloody tears.

Just when Qi Si thought he finally remembered to ask for a way out, he said caringly to the female ghost: “Are you okay? You should be careful when walking in the future, don’t fall again.”

Female ghost: “…”

Qi Si: “…”

In the frame, Lin Chen continued his path of heroic death, never noticing from beginning to end that there was an extra note in his pocket.

Outside the frame, Qi Si sat in his high-backed chair, cursing “idiot” several times in his mind.

Before he knew it, only fifteen seconds of the three minutes remained. Lin Chen had just reached the office door, dawdling as he reached for the doorknob.

Qi Si didn’t want to renew the Game Space stay time for this blockhead at all.

He glanced at the 【80580】 points in his account and expressionlessly clicked on the livestream tip interface… In “No. 33 Middle School” instance, Lin Chen stood at the office door and suddenly heard a prompt:

【Qi* tipped you 74 points】

A tip? Why tip him?

Lin Chen was stunned, then noticed that “74” sounded like “Qi Si”… His breathing became rapid, and an irrepressible look of joy appeared on his face.

Big shot Qi Si is still alive!

Big shot Qi Si is watching his livestream!

Big shot Qi Si not only remembers him but also tipped to encourage him!

【Qi* tipped you 6 points】

A new prompt popped up, and Lin Chen was bewildered.

What did this mean again? Was the big shot praising him for being ‘6’? Or… trying to use this to hint at something?

Lin Chen couldn’t figure it out and blinked his eyes in confusion several times.

“Student, come in…” A grim female voice came from behind the office door, damp and cold.

Lin Chen shuddered, forcing himself to pull away from his chaotic thoughts.

Maintaining his precarious calm, he gritted his teeth and turned the doorknob, his desire to survive stronger than ever before.

Even if it was a certain-death situation, he was unwilling to give up easily.

He thought, Big shot Qi Si is watching him; he must not appear too weak and must work hard to survive…